Patient systems

Free access to the internet is available at all our hospitals for patients, visitors and carers. The name of our free Wi-Fi service is NHS Wi-Fi.

To connect:

• search for the NHS Wi-Fi network on your device
• read the terms and conditions
• press 'accept and connect'
• You will be automatically redirected to the internet.

Some internet content maybe blocked for security reasons. If you need any technical support, a number for Wi-Fi sparks, our internet provider, appears on your screen when you are trying to connect to the Wi-Fi service. The support number is 0344 848 9555, email support@sparktsl.com.

In some areas of our hospitals, NHS Wi-Fi connectivity might be unavailable or slow. We are fixing this throughout 2024 through to 2026, so that anyone visiting or working at our hospitals can rely on a high-speed, secure and stable wireless connection, that makes browsing the internet and accessing multiple health and care systems easier.

If you get a text message from the number 07488865118 this is not a scam, it is us reminding you of an upcoming appointment within the next 14 days.

We are launching this service to help you to manage your upcoming appointments and to give you an opportunity to 'CANCEL' or 'REBOOK' by simply replying to a text message at your standard network rate.

Every year, thousands of patients accidently miss their hospital appointment. Sending appointment reminders drastically reduces missed appointments which cost us around £160 each time when patients do not attend. These reminders will help us to save money, but more importantly, will allow us to offer your slot to someone else if you no longer need it.

Whilst this service is to help manage appointment times effectively, we appreciate you may not want to receive them; therefore, you can opt out if you wish to. However, if you decide after opting out that you want to opt back in, you can do this by speaking to one of our reception team on 0300 443 0101 for Basildon, 0300 443 0103 for Broomfield, and 0300 443 0105 for Southend.

Many of our services offer video calls to patients as a way of having an appointment without having to travel to hospital. If you’ve been offered a video appointment, you and your healthcare professional will be able to see and hear each other using a secure online video service.

To find out more, visit  Video appointments.

At Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, we are gradually introducing a new patient consent system, which will allow patients to give their permission for an operation or medical procedure online, using a digital form.

First, the system will be piloted by patients attending our Breast service from November 2024. The Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) service will follow shortly after. The pilot will take about three months to complete before the system is introduced in other services across our hospitals. All other services will continue to use paper patient consent forms until the pilot is finished.

To find out more, visit our digital patient consent page.

The NHS App allows you to access a range of NHS services online. Our Trust is now securely sharing future appointment information for most of our outpatient services on the NHS App, and inpatient discharge letters, excluding those for our Maternity and the Emergency Departments.

We intend to share more information digitally with our patients to view in the NHS app shortly, including some test results.

To find out more, and to create an NHS App log-in, visit  https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/online-services/nhs-login .

Patients Know Best (PKB) is our new online patient portal, which we use to securely share most outpatient appointment information and inpatient discharge letters for patients aged 16 and older to view online. Information in PKB also feeds into the NHS App.   

To find out more, visit  Patients Know Best (PKB).